Full Speed Read online

  About the Book

  TOP SECRET

  What do you do when your instincts and obligations pull you in opposite directions? When there are multiple leads, which one do you follow?

  After a school excursion goes horribly wrong, Kensy and Max are left with a sneaking suspicion that the incident was no accident. But there’s no time for investigation as the twins are whisked away to Switzerland on a fully sanctioned Pharos mission.

  Upon landing in Zermatt, Kensy and Max are tasked with infiltrating the Van Leer family. Strange as the Van Leers are, proof of their misdeeds is scarce. And when a surprising figure appears in the ski town, it seems there is more than one mystery to solve. Kensy and Max are on a mission for justice and won’t stop until it’s served.

  PHAROS MISSION CHECKLIST

  Snow-melting pods

  Telescope

  Snooping skills

  Speed

  Ski lift ticket

  Courage

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Cast of Characters

  Map of London

  Map of Zermatt

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  A note on Qwerty Code

  About the Author

  Jacqueline Supports

  Books by Jacqueline Harvey

  Imprint

  Read more at Penguin Books Australia

  The Spencer household

  Kensington Méribel Spencer

  Agent-in-training, 12-year-old twin to Maxim

  Maxim Val d’Isère Spencer

  Agent-in-training, 12-year-old twin to Kensy

  Anna Spencer

  Dormant agent PA S2694, Kensy and Max’s mother

  Edward Spencer

  PA X2658, Kensy and Max’s father, son of Dame Spencer

  Fitzgerald Williams

  PA X2660, Kensy and Max’s manny, Edward’s first cousin

  Pharos

  Dame Cordelia Spencer

  Head of Pharos, PA Z001

  Song Li

  PA U2613, butler

  Rupert Spencer

  PA X2672, Dame Spencer’s son

  Tippie MacGregor

  Head of Inventions Team, Magoo MacGregor’s wife

  Central London Free School staff

  Magoo MacGregor

  Headmaster

  Romilly Vanden Boom

  Science teacher

  Monty Reffell

  History teacher

  Lottie Ziegler

  Mathematics teacher

  Gordon Nutting

  PE teacher

  Central London Free School students

  Autumn Lee,

  Trainee Pharos agents

  Curtis Pepper

  Harper Ballantine,

  Carlos Rodriguez,

  Sachin Varma,

  Yasmina Ahmed,

  Dante Moretti,

  Inez Dufour

  Blair Braithwaite,

  Regular school students

  Liam Lewis,

  Graham Churchill,

  Madeline Catanzariti,

  Angus Woods

  Other

  Sir James Strawbridge

  Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard

  Fox Van Leer

  Co-owner of Van Leer Holdings, Soren’s father

  Heike Van Leer

  Co-owner of Van Leer Holdings, Soren’s mother

  Soren Van Leer

  Fox and Heike’s son

  Sylvie Gould

  Van Leers’ housekeeper

  Axel Gruber

  Van Leers’ personal trainer

  For Ian and the brave children of the world who face all manner of challenges every single day.

  Case Note 20

  Author: Fitzgerald Williams, Pharos Agent (PA) X2660

  Subjects: Kensington Spencer, PA A2713; Maxim Spencer, PA A2714

  Kensington and Maxim Spencer were admitted as Pharos agents-in-training at the age of eleven years and one month.

  FIELDWORK

  Kensington and Maxim recently played a key role in identifying and apprehending the Postal Assassin who had been targeting victims across the United States with letters designed to poison the recipient upon opening.

  The children and their Australian friend, Curtis Pepper (who accepted an invitation by Dame Spencer to join the Pharos Agents in Training Program), travelled to New York with Dame Spencer, ostensibly for a holiday and to celebrate Cordelia receiving the Myrtle Award for her service to media and philanthropy. Unbeknown to anyone other than Cordelia and her youngest son, Rupert, she was also setting a trap for Dash Chalmers, Pharos’s most-wanted criminal (and the son of her dear friends Faye and Conrad Chalmers).

  Things went awry when Kensington and Maxim discovered the identity of the Postal Assassin – a man called Javier Hernandez. They subsequently learned that he was working for Dash Chalmers and intended to kill their grandmother at the gala where she was to receive her award. Due to quick thinking from the twins, and help from Curtis and their Uncle Rupert, they were able to ambush Javier. He was taken into custody, though not before his poison pen infected Dash Chalmers who had attended the event and was planning to flee, with his wife Tinsley and children, Donovan and Ellery, home to Australia at its conclusion. Having been kidnapped by Dash while in New York, Dame Spencer had cut a deal with the man, however she had no intention of allowing him to leave, planning her own double cross. She wasn’t counting on the other plot against her.

  Dash Chalmers succumbed to the poison and was publicly declared deceased the same day that a prisoner whose file was marked ‘Never to be Released’ was interned in a remote and highly secure Pharos facility.

  SKILLS, STRENGTHS AND VULNERABILITIES

  Kensington and Maxim have demonstrated initiative and courage, initially hunting down Javier without adult assistance. Their physical fitness and endurance are serving them both well and Kensington has worked hard to match her brother’s code-breaking skills.

  There have been some other ongoing challenges, with the family still unaware of who is trying to harm them following another critical incident during an outing on their grandmother’s cruiser. There appears to be a link with that attack to the boat from which the children and their parents had been shot at while walking along the Thames in London; however investigations have come to a standstill.

  TRAINING

  Kensington and Maxim continued their training over the summer vacation, undertaking many unprompted tasks and impressing everyone with their dedication to fitness and skill development.

  EMOTIONAL STATE

  Kensington and Maxim are both exhibiting signs of true resilience and determination – two attributes that will serve them well in the spy business. Kensington is still prone to the odd outburst and must learn to keep her emotions in check – something she
will no doubt learn from her grandmother who is an expert in that area.

  Maxim must also understand that it is important to be armed with all of the facts before jumping to conclusions, particularly when it comes to other agents – in this case, namely Song whom he suspected was working against Pharos during this time.

  OTHER INFORMATION

  Kensington and Maxim have returned to their home in Ponsonby Terrace, London, to live with their parents and myself. Song is currently stationed at Alexandria now that the family unit is settled. Curtis Pepper and his parents have taken up residence in Esme Brightside’s recently renovated terrace house directly across the road from the Spencers’ home.

  ‘Kensington, may I see you for a moment please?’ Mrs Vanden Boom asked loudly as the children streamed out of the lab into the corridor.

  Kensy looked at her best friend, Autumn. ‘Uh oh,’ she murmured.

  Autumn raised her eyebrows as she retied the red ribbon at the end of one of her long black plaits. ‘Any idea what that’s about?’

  Kensy shook her head. ‘No. I haven’t destroyed anything this week – at least nothing obvious.’

  Autumn grinned. ‘I’ll see you upstairs,’ she said. ‘Remember we’ve got Reff’s history excursion to the Houses of Parliament leaving straight after morning tea, so try not to be too long.’

  ‘Thrilling,’ Kensy said, deadpan as she turned to walk back to where the teacher was standing at the front of the room.

  ‘Is something the matter, Mrs Vanden Boom?’ Kensy asked. She thought she might as well just come out and ask.

  ‘No, nothing’s wrong,’ the woman said and waited until the last student had closed the door behind them. Then she lowered her voice. ‘I wanted to show you something. A new invention I’ve been working on for quite some time now. Though it’s not ready yet – it definitely needs to be trialled on some willing participants.’ There was an unmistakable glint in the teacher’s eye.

  Kensy let out the breath she’d been holding and felt her stomach settle. Last week she’d knocked over a bottle of sulphuric acid in the lab and although the stainless steel benchtop got off unscathed, the timber doors on the cupboard below hadn’t fared so well with the liquid burning a huge hole in the middle of them. She’d earned herself a right telling off for that, though deservedly so. This week Kensy had earned full marks for her research project on soundwaves, so she was definitely back in the woman’s good books.

  The science teacher reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver case. It was quite flat and looked a bit like one of the antique snuff boxes in the collection Kensy’s grandmother had on display at Alexandria, the woman’s country estate. Romilly unsnapped the latch and revealed three pieces of black material, each less than a centimetre square, along with what looked to be three small earpieces paired beside them.

  ‘Aren’t they beautiful?’ the woman said, picking up one of the patches between her forefinger and thumb.

  Kensy frowned. ‘Um, what are they?’

  ‘Mind-readers,’ Romilly replied.

  Kensy’s eyebrows jumped up. ‘Are you serious?’

  The teacher nodded and pressed a finger to her lips. ‘Top secret, but I had to share it with someone whom I knew would appreciate what’s gone into the development.’

  ‘How do they work?’ Kensy asked.

  ‘Well, the patch needs to be attached to the inside of a hat or a helmet around about here.’ Romilly patted the side of her head. ‘Although it doesn’t matter too much if it’s a little out of alignment, as placing it accurately under pressure is going to be tricky. The messages from the wearer are transmitted back to the receiver, via the earpiece. It’s still in development, but I’m sure it’s going to be a game changer for the organisation.’

  ‘Are you working with the inventions team on this?’ Kensy asked. Kensy and her twin brother had recently been given a tour of another Pharos site located deep below the headquarters of the Beacon – the newspaper that their grandmother and father ran. The pair had been stunned to meet a small team of scientists and inventors who were responsible for all of the Pharos-issue gadgets. Apparently it was a rare privilege to be given a peek and they’d been sworn to secrecy.

  Romilly shook her head. ‘No, unfortunately. Tippie and I, we don’t always see eye to . . .’ the woman hesitated. ‘Never mind . . . and, Kensy, you’re not to mention this to another soul. No one – not even Maxim and especially not your grandmother. I promise I’ll reveal more when I can.’

  ‘That’s an incredible invention,’ Kensy declared, clenching her fists and jiggling on the spot.

  ‘Yes, it is rather. Now off you go – and remember, this is our secret,’ the woman said, tapping the side of her nose.

  ‘Of course,’ Kensy agreed.

  The girl could hardly believe it. A mind-reader. Imagine what could be done with something like that. Although she’d hate for someone to plant one on her – that would be horrible. And what did Mrs Vanden Boom mean about her and Tippie not seeing eye to eye? The twins had been shocked to learn that Tippie MacGregor, their headmaster’s impossibly glamorous wife, whom they’d met a couple of times now at Alexandria was actually a highly accomplished scientist in charge of the Pharos inventions team. No one had thought to mention it before, which was odd, but then again, Pharos was a secret organisation. Their grandmother had seemed delighted by the looks of surprise on Kensy’s and Max’s faces. It was probably another lesson in stereotypes – just because someone appears a certain way and is called Tippie doesn’t mean they’re an airhead. Far from it. Kensy had felt a bit bad for having thought that in the first place. Clearly the MacGregors were a formidable team.

  Her thoughts returned to the mind-reader. This was next level – and showed just how clever Mrs Vanden Boom was too.

  Kensy scurried to the end of the line as Monty Reffell marked the roll.

  ‘Rodriguez,’ the teacher called out to a ‘Here, sir,’ from the boy.

  ‘I got you a chocolate muffin,’ Autumn whispered, passing the cake, which she’d wrapped in a napkin, to Kensy.

  ‘Thanks,’ the girl said, shoving it into her uniform pocket, then licking her finger, which had protruded through the paper and into a plump choc chip.

  ‘What took you so long?’ Autumn asked.

  ‘I’d forgotten a couple of references in my assignment and Mrs Vanden Boom asked me to show her where I got the information,’ the girl replied. She had already worked out her excuse on the way upstairs, knowing that Autumn would ask.

  ‘At least you weren’t in trouble this time,’ Autumn said, arching her eyebrow.

  Kensy grinned. ‘True.’

  ‘Kensington Grey,’ Mr Reffell said loudly.

  ‘Here, sir,’ the girl replied. Kensy and Max had recently legally changed their surname back to Spencer, but at school they were still known as Grey.

  ‘Thank you for gracing us with your presence.’ The man pressed his lips tightly together. He’d called her name earlier and was now going back through the list of students who had been missing the first time.

  Kensy stifled a smile, having just realised that their excursion was being led by Sir Winston Churchill. At least that’s the character Mr Reffell was dressed as this morning. He wore a dark three-piece suit with a spotted red bow tie and a bowler hat atop his head. No doubt he’d get lots of stares on the short walk from school to the Houses of Parliament at Westminster, but the children were used to it. It was his thing to dress up and teach in character.

  With everyone accounted for, Mr Reffell led the children through the office to the front doors. The headmaster, Magoo MacGregor, had just stepped out of his study and guffawed loudly when he caught sight of his colleague. ‘Looking splendid, Mr Reffell. I mean, Sir Winston.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr MacGregor. We’re off to Westminster where this lot will soon learn that politics is more dangerous than war, for in war you are only killed once,’ Monty said, channelling Sir Winston’s voice as he recited one of the
man’s famous quotes. The teacher raised his hand in the air and motioned forward. ‘Press on, chaps.’

  ‘Enjoy yourselves.’ Magoo grinned at his assistant, Daphne Potts, who was sitting on the opposite side of the room behind a glass screen. Today she was wearing a new jumper that she’d finished knitting last week – a soft pink turtleneck with a delicate snowflake pattern, for which she had already received several compliments.

  ‘I wish I’d had a history teacher like Monty when I was a girl. He certainly makes things entertaining,’ she said, fiddling with one of her dangly parrot earrings.